Apparently in response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955. But the relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers has a much longer history.

In a constantly necessary effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary human life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasized that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in both the satisfactions and the drudgery of that vocation. Humanity is like God not only in thinking and loving, but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral,

we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, ultimately for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Our fathers have told us of the might of the Lord and the marvelous deeds he has done.

Alleluia.

Listen, my people, to my teaching;

open your ears to the words of my mouth.

I shall open my mouth in explanation,

I shall tell of the secrets of the past.

All that we have heard and know –

all that our fathers told us –

we shall not hide it from their descendants,

but will tell to a new generation

the praise of the Lord, and his power,

and the wonders that he worked.

He set up a covenant with Jacob,

he gave a law to Israel;

he commanded our ancestors to pass it on to their children,

so that the next generation would know it,

the children yet to be born.

They shall rise up and tell the story to their children,

so that they put their trust in God,

so that they do not forget the works of God,

so that they keep his commandments;

so that they do not become like their fathers,

rebellious and troublesome,

a generation of fickle hearts,

of souls unfaithful to God.

The sons of Ephraim, the bowmen,

fled when it came to battle;

they did not keep their covenant with God,

they refused to follow his law.

They forgot his deeds

and the wonders he had shown them.

In front of their ancestors he had worked his wonders,

in the land of Egypt, in the plains of Tanis.

He divided the sea and led them across,

he held back the waters as if in a bag.

He led them in a cloud by day;

and through the night, in the light of fire.

He split the rock in the desert

and gave them water as if from bottomless depths.

He brought forth streams from the rock

and made the waters flow down in rivers.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Our fathers have told us of the might of the Lord and the marvelous deeds he has done.

Alleluia.

Psalm 77 (78)

The sons of Israel ate manna and drank spiritual drink from the rock which followed them.

Alleluia.

Still they insisted on sinning against him,

they stirred up the wrath of the Most High in the desert.

They put God to the test in their hearts,

asking for food, their desire.

They spoke out against God, saying

“Can God lay a table in the wilderness?”

He struck the rock, and the waters poured out,

and the streams were full to overflowing;

“But can he give us bread?

Can he give meat to his people?”

The Lord heard all this, and he flared up in anger.

Fire blazed against Jacob,

his wrath rose up against Israel.

All this, because they had no faith in God,

they had no trust in his saving power.

He commanded the clouds nevertheless,

and opened the doors of the heavens.

Manna rained down for them to eat:

he gave them the bread of heaven.

Men ate the food of angels;

he gave them provisions in abundance.

In heaven he stirred up the east wind,

he brought the south wind, by his power:

he rained meat on them as if it were dust,

winged birds, like the sands of the sea,

to fall in the middle of their camp,

all around their tents.

They ate and were full to bursting,

and so he gave them their desire.

In the middle of their enjoyment,

when the food was still in their mouths,

the wrath of God rose up against them,

and slew the healthiest among them,

and laid low the flower of Israel.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

The sons of Israel ate manna and drank spiritual drink from the rock which followed them.

Alleluia.

Psalm 77 (78)

They remembered that God was their helper and their redeemer.

Alleluia.

All this – and still they sinned,

still they had no faith in his wonders.

He made their days vanish in a breath,

their years in a headlong rush.

Whenever he was killing them, they sought him,

repented and came back to him at dawn:

they remembered that God is their helper,

that God, the Most High, is their saviour;

but their speech to him was only flattery:

they lied to him with their tongues,

their hearts were dishonest towards him,

they did not keep his covenant.

But the Lord is merciful:

he forgives sin, he does not destroy.

Always he turned aside his anger,

held back from unleashing all his wrath.

He remembered that they were flesh –

a breath, that goes and does not return.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

They remembered that God was their helper and their redeemer.

Alleluia.

Christ, at your resurrection, alleluia,

– let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia.

First Reading

Apocalypse 17:1-18

One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came to speak to me, and said, ‘Come here and I will show you the punishment given to the famous prostitute who rules enthroned beside abundant waters, the one with whom all the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and who has made all the population of the world drunk with the wine of her adultery.’ He took me in spirit to a desert, and there I saw a woman riding a scarlet beast which had seven heads and ten horns and had blasphemous titles written all over it. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and glittered with gold and jewels and pearls, and she was holding a gold wine-cup filled with the disgusting filth of her fornication; on her forehead was written a name, a cryptic name: ‘Babylon the Great, the mother of all the prostitutes and all the filthy practices on the earth.’ I saw that she was drunk, drunk with the blood of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I was completely mystified. The angel said to me, ‘Don’t you understand? Now I will tell you the meaning of this woman, and of the beast she is riding,

with the seven heads and the ten horns.

‘The beast you have seen once was and now is not; he is yet to come up from the Abyss, but only to go to his destruction. And the people of the world, whose names have not been written since the beginning of the world in the book of life, will think it miraculous when they see how the beast once was and now is not and is still to come. Here there is need for cleverness,

for a shrewd mind; the seven heads are the seven hills, and the woman is sitting on them.

The seven heads are also seven emperors. Five of them have already gone, one is here now, and one is yet to come; once here, he must stay for a short while. The beast, who once was and now is not, is at the same time the eighth and one of the seven,

and he is going to his destruction.

The ten horns are ten kings who have not yet been given their royal power but will have royal authority only for a single hour and in association with the beast. They are all of one mind in putting their strength and their powers at the beast’s disposal, and they will go to war against the Lamb; but the Lamb is the Lord of lords and the King of kings,

and he will defeat them and they will be defeated by his followers, the called, the chosen, the faithful.’

The angel continued, ‘The waters you saw, beside which the prostitute was sitting, are all the peoples, the populations, the nations and the languages. But the time will come when the ten horns and the beast will turn against the prostitute, and strip off her clothes and leave her naked; then they will eat her flesh and burn the remains in the fire. In fact, God influenced their minds to do what he intended, to agree together to put their royal powers at the beast’s disposal until the time when God’s words should be fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city which has authority over all the rulers on earth.’

Responsory

The kings of the earth will fight against the Lamb,

but the Lamb will defeat them,

because he is the Lord of lords and the King of kings,

alleluia.

He was given a crown,

and he went out as a conqueror to conquer,

because he is the Lord of lords and the King of kings,

alleluia.

Second Reading

A letter of Pope St Clement I to the Corinthians

There are many paths but one Way

My dear friends, this is the way in which we find our Savior Jesus Christ, the High Priest of all our offerings,

the defender and helper of our infirmity.

By him we look up to the heights of heaven. In his face, exalted and without blemish, we see ourselves reflected. By him the eyes of our hearts are opened. By him our foolish and darkened understanding blossoms up anew towards his marvellous light. By him the Lord has willed that we should taste of immortal knowledge. He is the radiant light of God’s glory.

He is now as far above the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name.

Let us then, men and brethren, with all energy act the part of soldiers, in accordance with his holy commandments.

Think of the soldiers who serve under our generals, and with what order, obedience, and submissiveness they perform the things which are commanded them. Not all are prefects, nor commanders of a thousand, nor of a hundred, nor of fifty, nor the like, but each one in his own rank performs the things commanded by the king and the generals. The great cannot subsist without the small, nor the small without the great. There is a kind of mixture in all things, and thence arises mutual advantage.

Let us take our body for an example. The head is nothing without the feet, and the feet are nothing without the head.

The very smallest members of our body are necessary and useful to the whole body.

All work harmoniously together and they are under one common rule for the preservation of the whole body.

In Christ Jesus let our whole body be preserved intact. Let every one of us be subject to his neighbor,

according to the special gift bestowed upon him.

Let the strong not despise the weak, and let the weak show respect to the strong. Let the rich man provide for the wants of the poor; and let the poor man bless God, because he has given him one by whom his need may be supplied. Let the wise man display his wisdom, not by mere words, but through good deeds. Let the humble not bear testimony to himself, but leave witness to be borne to him by another. Let him that is pure in the flesh not grow proud of it, and boast,

knowing that it was another who bestowed on him the gift of continence.

Let us consider, then, brethren, of what matter we were made. Let us consider how we came into this world, as it were out of a sepulcher, and from utter darkness: who and what manner of beings we were. He who made us and fashioned us,

having prepared his bountiful gifts for us before we were born, introduced us into his world.

Since, therefore, we receive all these things from him, we ought for everything to give him thanks;

to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Responsory

Christ is the head of his body, the Church;

he is the source of the body’s life;

he is the firstborn Son who was raised from death:

in baptism you were raised with him through your faith in the active power of God,

who raised him from death,

alleluia.

The fullness of the divine nature lives in Christ,

in his humanity, and you,

who were buried with him in baptism,

have been given full life in union with him:

in baptism you were raised with him through your faith in the active power of God,